n>Christianity in Europe is fading. A vague and symbolic identity is replacing belief in God, belonging to denominations, and attendance at religious services. Olivier Roy documents these changes in Is Europe Christian?, and shows how long-term secularism, recent populism, and the cultural shifts of the 1960s are responsible for this fall from grace. Yet it bears emphasizing that the Roman Catholic Church itself is complicit in ensuring Christianity’s disappearance in Europe, even more fundamentally than the disenchantment of Vatican II or the more recent pedophilia scandals. Read Full Article »